The Detroit Lions are currently 7-6 and doing everything in their power to give up a division that was being handed to them on a platter a few weeks ago. After injuries to Aaron Rodgers and Jay Cutler, it appeared the Lions would walk away with the NFC North. But after losses to teams like the Buccaneers and Steelers, the Bears and Packers are both still alive and things could get even more interesting if Aaron Rodgers returns sooner than later.
So one could understand the shock I had at these comments from Fox Sports’ Jimmy Johnson on the NFC playoff picture.
“Seattle is going to have home field advantage throughout the playoffs. New Orleans is going to be the No. 2 seed – all they need to do is split the two games with Carolina. The third seed is going to be the Detroit Lions – they’ve got the best team and could win it all. Dallas is going to take the fourth seed. If they stumble, Philadelphia could take it over by winning that last ball game then San Francisco and Carolina will be the two wild cards.”
“Detroit might be the most talented team in the entire league. They’ve got enough talent to win it all if they weren’t a sloppy team. They’re undisciplined. They turn it over, 25 turnovers, 80 penalties and a sloppy, undisciplined team is easily distracted.
If we’re being fair, on paper the Lions have one of the most talented teams in the NFL so I can kind of understand Johnson’s premise.
But in reality this is an undisciplined team that will hurt themselves at least 3-4 times a game, and no elite team would commit as many mistakes as the Detroit Lions do.
At this point there’s no guarantee they even win the division anymore. No way in hell you can put them in the same class as the Seahawks and Broncos.